The German Navy has just received the first of eight new Boeing P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol and reconnaissance aircraft.
Back in June 2021, Germany signed a $1.77bn contract for the procurement of an initial five P-8As via a Foreign Military Sales agreement; the agreement was adjusted to include three additional aircraft in November 2023 for an estimated additional $1.27bn.
Project manager at the Federal Office of Bundeswehr Equipment, Information Technology and In-Service Support (BAAINBw), Frigate Captain Björn M, commented: “With the P-8A, the German Navy is making a huge leap forward both technologically and in terms of operational capabilities.”
The BAAINBw press statement also noted: “The P-8A Poseidon project sets standards for rapid and efficient procurement. Just four years after the contract was signed, the first aircraft was taken over by the German Armed Forces Procurement Office from the American manufacturer Boeing yesterday – a record-breaking acquisition of this magnitude.”
The first plane was handed over last week and will now undergo final quality checks and acceptance tests ahead of being transferred to Marinefliegergeschwader 3 Graf Zeppelin — the Bundeswehr’s Naval Aviation Squadron in Nordholz, Lower Saxony — next month.
The U.S. Navy has been training crews in Florida for the past six months. All crews are expected to have completed their training in Jacksonville by mid-2026.
The P-8As are replacing the Bundeswehr’s fleet of P-3C Orions; of its initial eight planes, only two are still flying, and these are soon due to be taken out of service.
The P8-A aircraft are designed for a range of missions including anti-submarine warfare (ASW), anti-surface warfare (ASUW), search and rescue (SAR), and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR).
Based on Boeing’s commercially successful 737 platform, they feature automated communication and navigation processes, next-generation sensor suites, extended range, and in-flight refuelling capability.
They can drop and monitor sonobuoys and are armed with five torpedoes; they can also carry Harpoon anti-ship missiles as well as other weapons systems. The variants bought by the Bundeswehr also carry an infrared anti-missile self-protection system.
More than 160 Poseidons are currently in operation worldwide. As well as the USA, other operators include the U.K., Norway, Australia, India, South Korea, and New Zealand.
- You can read more details on the BAAINBw press portal